All proceeds from the 2018 Yule Ball will be donated to Immigration Counseling Services, Oregon’s oldest non-profit law firm, which provides legal assistance and advocacy for immigrants and refugees in Oregon and SW Washington.

PDXpelliarmus had a booth in the PDX Play Fair where nerds of all ages could pick up some wizard activist supplies, create their own mini monster book of monsters, try their hand at Quidditch, or pose for photos with some of our magical props.

On Saturday, our Headmistress, Brandie, led a story time, reading from Tales of Beedle the Bard. We also hosted two panels, Fan Activism and Trivia Of Advancing Difficulty. The TOADs panels was particularly fun, with a full room of enthusiastic HP nerds testing their knowledge.

On Tuesday, July 31st, we teamed up with McMenamin’s Kennedy School to celebrate Harry’s birthday! There was butterbeer, cake, tasty magical food specials, and a lot of fun. We had costume contests for children and adults, trivia, and crafted some bowtruckles!

The event was free, but we requested anyone attending bring along school supplies to donate, and we were NOT disappointed. We collected a mountain of supplies, including 27 backpacks! All donated supplies went to elementary students in the Centennial School District, as part of the Schools Uniting Neighborhoods program, which coordinates with local nonprofits to serve 80+ schools throughout Multnomah County. The Centennial School District is managed by Metropolitan Family Services, including Parklane, Oliver, and Meadows elementary, reaching between 1,200 and 1,500 families.

We also held a raffle, the Grand Prize of which was a Family Fun Package (two adult tickets, two children’s), donated by Rose City Comic Con! The raffle proceeds allowed us to donate another $600 in cash to SUN, so they can help provide what students next to succeed.

On Sunday, June 17th, the Portland Chapter of the Harry Potter Alliance marched with the Portland Pride parade! We were a small group, but we got a lot of love from the crowd, and everyone enjoyed seeing Dumbledore.

On Sunday, July 30th, we will be partnering with McMenamin’s Kennedy School for a showing of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone! The magic will begin BEFORE the movie, with a costume contest, trivia, a raffle, and more! Wear your wizarding best, refresh your memory of “Hogwarts, a History”, and have your wands at the ready. House Points will be awarded!

We will also be collecting school supplies to fill the trunks of local students who are also headed back to school. Proceeds of the raffle and all school supplies donated will be going to benefit the Immigrant & Refugee Community Organization. IRCO works to support the integration of refugees, immigrants and the community at large into a self-sufficient, healthy and inclusive multi-ethnic society. They provide vocational training, language classes, social services, and academic support to students in and around Portland.

Doors to the theater open at 10:45am, programming begins at 11:15, and the movie begins at 12:00pm.

Cost of the movie is $4 for adults and $2 for children under 11. Food and drink will be available to order.

With the official Accio Books campaign wrapped, we talked about the books we had donated for both Beaumont and Words Alive. Of the initial list from Beaumont, there were only 10 books we didn’t get, and we fell short on our goal of 36 copies of “This Side of Home” by 6 copies. We’ll be delivering those books to Beaumont later this month.

The books going to Words Alive will be shipped in the next couple of weeks. (Thanks to Robin for the boxes!) Per the group’s agreement, the House Points reported to the HPA for our donations were given to Hufflepuff, as they were the clear winner of our chapter competition. I will make an official announcement regarding the final standings on Tuesday.

Harry Potter comes to Kennedy School!

On Saturday, Brandie and I met with Beth from McMenamin’s Kennedy School. They will be showing Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone on Sunday, July 30, 2017. Our chapter will be “hosting” the showing, with a costume contest, trivia competition, school supply drive, and raffle. The movie will begin at 12pm, with the doors opening at 10:45, and the activities beginning around 11:15.

Proceeds from the raffle will be going to IRCO (Immigrant & Refugee Community Organization), and if they have use for the school supplies, they will go to IRCO as well. If not, we will need to find a secondary charity to donate supplies to. If you have a suggestion, please let us know!

We will also need to gather up raffle prizes! We are planning to have a specialized prize for each House, as well as a Grand Prize. We will be contacting local businesses for donations. If you have items of your own you’d like to donate, including HP crafts, we’d love to have it!

Even more importantly, we need volunteers! The Kennedy School theater holds 200, and I’d be shocked if it wasn’t full. We will need 1-2 people at the raffle/donation drop off table, someone at the door to give out programs, and 1-2 people to assist during the costume contest and trivia. Volunteers would need to be available from about 10am until the movie begins. You are responsible for buying your own movie ticket ($4), but they may be other perks. (See below.)

Participation Recognition

We’ve talked at previous meetings about how to reward anyone who gets actively involved with our chapter. Already, we are recognizing people who have assisted on previous events by placing them in the appropriate Years. (For example, Morgan Johnson has been to both HEAP events, as well as Fantastic Beasts at the Bagdad, and she attended a meeting, so she is officially a Fourth Year. Someone who is a member of the FB group but has never participated is a First Year. Once all the Years are completed, you can pick your own title, such as Katie Anderson, Professor of Transfiguration.)

We are going to add collectable badge ribbons, one for each event. HEAP ribbons will be based on the year attended, rather than the total number we’ve done. So if you’ve been to both, you can get a HEAP Year One and a HEAP Year Two ribbon. If this year was your first year, you get a HEAP Year One. Does that make sense? We will also be getting “Wizard Activist” ribbons, which will be awarded for cumulative participation. (To be determined.)

FINALLY…

The Yule Ball. Yes, we want to make it happen. We will be researching possible locations and discussing what sort of event we want it to be in the near future. As we begin to plan, transparency is going to be a big part of what we do. We discussed and agreed that Kickstarter may be the way to sell advance tickets and gage the level of interest. We’d love to have an elaborate ball with a hotel partner, waltzing lessons, plated dinner, and live music, but we need to make sure that we could sell enough tickets to cover the costs.

You can help us out by giving us feedback as we plan and share the details of that plan. I know what sort of Yule Ball I want to attend, but it’s more important that it be a Yule Ball YOU want to attend.

We have not set a date for the next meeting, but I will share it as soon as we do.

This April and May, 2017, the Harry Potter Alliance will be hosting the annual Accio Books Campaign! The goal of this campaign is to collect books for use in our communities and schools, and to build libraries around the world.

The Portland Chapter of the HPA will be donating books to Beaumont Middle School, with a focus on stories with under-represented protagonists. All new and like-new books are welcomed, but there is a list of most needed books available. All books not needed by the school will be donated to Words Alive, a San Diego based organization that strives to create more opportunities for life success by cultivating a commitment to reading.